LeBron donates tablets to Akron third-graders, Canton company announces venture with Russia, local coyote sightings: News Around the Area

Rebecca Reis | Web EditorPublished: March 28, 2014 1:10PM

Here are some of today's top headlines from around the area, including outrage over a Canton company's connections to Russia, an Akron reading program giving tablets to third-graders (from LeBron James) and what to do if you come face-to-face with a coyote.

COYOTES: Coyote sightings are on the rise this time of the year as the carnivores prepare for offspring, on top of the rising year-round sightings in Northeast Ohio, according to The Plain Dealer. Coyotes mate in February and early March, and this time of year they begin "denning" for the pups to be born from mid-April through May. Cleveland Metroparks says to make loud noises and back away slowly if you do see a coyote. Click here to read more at cleveland.com.

ADULT SCHOLARSHIPS: College Now Greater Cleveland will award more than $250,000 in renewable scholarships to adults planning to attend college who meet income requirements in increments of up to $4,000 a year, according to The Plain Dealer. Recipients must be age 19 or older who have never attended a college or technical program, or those who discontinued studies for more than one year. Aspiring students from Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties are eligible. Applications are due April 15 and more information can be found at collegenowgc.org. Click here to read more at cleveland.com.

E-LIBRARY: Third-graders in the Akron Public Schools system have access to the country's most expansive e-library with more than 3,400 books available on laptops, desktops and tablets provided by the LeBron James Family Foundation, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. The program is in its first year at Akron schools, and allows students to read multiple copies of the same book simultaneously, as well as allow them to highlight and save text or enlarge text for better reading. The resources are part of a program to have students reading by the end of third grade. The Lebron James Family Foundation donated 1,000 Hewlett-Packard laptops, 300 desktops and 700 Samsung tablets, and Sebco Books donated $300,000 in the summer and expanded with a donation of $10,000 in e-books. Click here to read more at ohio.com.

PRIEST SCANDAL: A Roman Catholic priest from the Northeast Ohio area has been "granted dispensation from the clerical state," or made unable to perform as a priest, by the Vatican in relation to allegations of sexual abuse since the 1960s in Akron, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. George F. Bailey was ordained in 1963 and served as associate pastor of st. Vincent Parish in Akron until 1968, St. Augustine Parish in Barberton from 1977 to 1978 and as pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Medina from 1984 to 1989, as well as several other Northeast Ohio churches. Bishopaccountability.org states that at least 10 women have accused Bailey of sexual abuse when they were in grade school at St. Vincent's and St. Mary's. Click here to read more at ohio.com.

RUSSIA: The Timken Company, a Canton-based maker of specialty steel and bearings, announced plans Monday to create a joint venture agreement with Moscow's United Wagon Company to make railroad bearings for Russian railroads, to the dismay of the Greater Cleveland Ukrainian American community, according to The Plain Dealer. Despite President Obama's trip to Europe this week to join the U.S. in sanctions against Russia for forcibly annexing Ukraine's Crimea, Timken issued a statement Thursday saying the company was working on the deal months before conflict in the Ukraine and Russia began. Around 46,000 people in Ohio claim to have Ukrainian ancestry, and most of those live in the Greater Cleveland Area. Members of the Parma-based United Ukrainian Organizations of Ohio and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America have expressed outrage at the venture. Click here to read more at cleveland.com.